BIBLE READING PLAN: DECEMBER 15-21, 2008
Ezekiel 36-42, Revelation 13-17, Psalm 147-148
Ezekiel 36
This chapter deals primarily with the future promise of blessing and hope for Israel.
36:9 God has said recently to other kings and nations, “I am against you” (26:3, 28:22, 29:3, 35:3) but is declaring that He is “for” Israel!
36:8-15 In the future age of the kingdom, Israel’s land will be luxuriantly fruitful. Israel will also be blessed by all nations (v15) instead of being hated by all nations as they are today (Zechariah 12:3, Matthew 24:9).
36:22-32 Here God describes some of the great blessings. The people of Israel will all be re-gathered to their land (v24) and the entire nation will be saved (v26-27, Romans 11:25-26). They will possess their land (v28), renew their relationship with God (v28), see their land produce (v29-30) and repent of their past sins (v31). All of these blessings are a result of God’s grace, made clear by stating it before (v22-23) and after (v32).
Ezekiel 37
This is an incredible prophecy of Israel becoming a nation in the future. This was fulfilled partially in 1948 when Israel became a nation again after almost 2000 years of non-existence.
37:2 These bones are described as “very dry” which means they had been dead a long time (almost 2000 years).
37:10 Even today, for a small nation Israel has a powerful army. In fact, it is ranked in the top 5 armies of the world in power.
37:12 The people are currently back in the land, but there in unbelief.
37:15-23 Though the nation of Israel was divided into two kingdoms, in the future they would be reunited as one kingdom (v22). There are no lost tribes of Israel.
37:24 The ultimate fulfillment of this chapter will not happen until the nation turns to the Lord and is saved at the end of the tribulation period. This is referring once again to the Lord Jesus, as did 34:23.
Ezekiel 38 and 39
These two chapters go together as a prophecy that describes the future. I believe that these chapters describe a future attack by Russia upon Israel that will take place during or shortly before the tribulation period (v16 – “in the last days”). God Himself will protect Israel and deliver them.
38:2, 5-6 The chief players in this attack are Gog, Magog, Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal (v2) along with Persia, Ethipia, Put (v5), and Gomer (v6). The bottom line is that these countries are Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Iran, Turkey, Libya, northern Sudan, and possibly Germany. Isn’t it interesting that modern Russia is aligned with all of the nations?
38:6,15 We are told that this attack comes from the “north” (39:2). If you find a map of the Middle East and draw a line due north from Israel, you will hit Moscow.
38:7-12 It appears that Russia will first come in to be a “guard” or to perhaps to “keep the peace”. Israel will be “living securely” (v8) in “unwalled villages” (v11) that are “at rest” (v11). Russia will then realize that they have an opportunity to plunder the spoil (v10-12). Isn’t it interesting that today Russia has economic disaster, famine, devastation of resources and hardship? About all they have is a strong army!
38:13 This country appears to be opposing (only verbally) the attack of Russia on Israel. I don’t know if this is true, but some Bible scholars make verse 13 the USA.
38:17-39:11 God Himself shall protect Israel when there seems to be no hope. Not only will He stop the attack, but send judgment upon the home countries that send the troops (39:6). Seven months will be required to bury their corpses (39:12) and their weapons will supply fuel for Israel seven years (39:9-10).
39:17-18 These verses seems to connect with Revelation 19:17-18 which talks about Armageddon at the end of the Tribulation.
39:25-29 These verses end this section of Ezekiel (chapter 25-39 – prediction on nations) with ALL the nations knowing why Israel went into exile and that their LORD is God.
Ezekiel 40
This begins the last section of Ezekiel. These last 9 chapters seem to speak of a future temple that will be constructed during the millennium period of the Kingdom of God.
40:1 Ezekiel was exiled 11 years before Jerusalem was taken (2 Kings 24:11-18).
Revelation 13
This chapter gives us an overview of the two men who will deceive the world: the antichrist (v1-10) and the false prophet (v11-18).
13:1 This beast is described with many attributes that are also found in the Dragon himself (12:3). Just as Jesus could say “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father”, the same could be said about the antichrist. He is like a “son of Satan”, and will have the authority and power of Satan (v2).
13:3-8 The antichrist will appear to rise from the dead at the midpoint of the tribulation (v3), will demand worldwide worship and allegiance (v3, 5, 8), will rule for 3½ years (v5), will be powerful (v4), will overcome the saints of the tribulation period (v7), and will speak arrogantly against God and those saints who were taken to heaven (v6). He will literally have military power, political power, and ecclesiastical power.
13:11-15 The false prophet’s main job is to cause the world to worship the antichrist (v12) through the power of signs and wonders (v13-15), and help the antichrist institute a worldwide mark (v16-18). I call the false prophet the “antispirit”, as his role is similar to that of the Holy Spirit, whose job is to magnify Christ (John 16:14).
13:16-18 We can see how modern technology can fulfill these verses. We already use debit cards and direct deposit. Wouldn’t a cash-less society be a good idea? But instead of a card, we just put a small “chip” in the back of your hand and run it across the scanner at the gas pump or Safeway! This, of course, is just one possibility as to how the mark of the beast might be implemented.
Revelation 14
This chapter is the heavenly counterpart to Chapter 13. Here we see the Lamb and not the beast. Here we see heaven, not earth. Here we see true worship, and not false worship. There are seven separate paragraphs (v1-5, 6-7, 8, 9-12, 13, 14-16, 17-20) in this chapter containing seven visions John received.
14:8 Babylon refers to the end times political system and religious system. The word “fallen” is used two times. Perhaps this refers to the “religious” Babylon falling in chapter 17, and then the “political” Babylon falling in chapter 18.
14:9-12 Those who receive the mark of the beast will be judged with eternal destruction. This condemnation is followed by a word of encouragement to the saints (of the tribulation period) to persevere in faith and obedience, even though they will likely lose their lives by refusing the mark of the beat (20:4).
14:17-20 This refers to the Battle of Armageddon (16:16) at the end of the tribulation (19:11-18) when Christ comes to battle the armies of the earth (Isaiah 63:1-6, Jeremiah 25:30-33).
Revelation 15
15:1 Since this chapter is more of an introduction to chapter 16, let me review: Chapters 6-11 are mostly chronological going through the tribulation. In Chapter 12:1-3 we see the signs of Israel and the dragon. Chapters 12-14 mostly have to do with Israel, the dragon, the beast, the false prophet, and the 144,000. Now we see another sign (v1), which are the seven bowls of wrath. Chapters 15-16 primarily deal with these bowls of wrath.
Revelation 16
I believe these seven bowls are the same as the seven trumpets of chapters 8-11, since there are too many similarities for a coincidence.
Trumpet Bowl
1st Rev 8:7 on earth Rev 16:1-2 on earth
2nd Rev 8:8-9 on sea Rev 16:3 on sea
3rd Rev 8:10-11 on rivers Rev 16:4-7 on rivers
4th Rev 8:12 sun, moon, stars Rev 16:8-9 on sun
5th Rev 9:1-11 locusts torment men Rev 16:10-11 sores torment men
6th Rev 9:13-21 on Euphrates Rev 16:12-16 Euphrates-Armageddon
7th Rev 11:15-17 It is Done Rev 16:17-21 Last Bowl
That being said, it is very possible that these bowl judgments are separate incidents that augment the trumpet judgments to a higher degree.
16:2-10 There are many similarities here to the Egyptian plagues, which God brought upon Pharaoh to judge that nation. The sores in Bowl #1 are reminiscent of the sixth plague of Egypt (Exodus 9:8-12). The water turning to blood in Bowl #2 is reminiscent of the first plague of Egypt (Exodus 7:20-25). The kingdom being darkened in Bowl #5 is reminiscent of the ninth plague of Egypt (Exodus 10:21-22). In the midst of all of this, God is being worshipped for His holy judgments (v5-7). This is a time of God’s vengeance, not a period of grace.
16:12 We read in the sixth trumpet about an army of 200 million men coming from the east (9:16). This is the preparation for the battle of Armageddon (v16) when Christ fights against the kings of the earth (Psalm 2).
16:13 Just as God is Triune in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Satan also imitates the Trinity with the Devil, the Antichrist, and the False Prophet. Just as Jesus is God in human flesh, the antichrist will be “Satan incarnate”. Just as the Holy Spirit’s role is to magnify Christ, the false prophet’s role is to magnify the antichrist.
16:17-19 This final bowl also results in the destruction of “Babylon”. I believe that the next two chapters will give us more detail on this destruction. The first false religion was “Babel” (Genesis 11:1-9), the greatest earthly kingdom was Babylon (Daniel 2:36-38), and the final world religion and world empire will be the same. All false religions have their origins in the tower of Babel, attempting to build a way to heaven from the “ground up to God” and to make “a name for ourselves” (Genesis 11:1-4).
Revelation 17
17:1-7 This woman is a picture of false religion in the end times. At first she “rides” the beast, but eventually, the beast will destroy her (v16-17). I believe the one-world religion of the end times will be in control of the antichrist on his way to the top, but in the end he will destroy her.
17:8-18 I would like to overview these verses by looking at world kingdoms. Verses 9 and 10 speak of seven world kingdoms in which five have fallen, one is, and one is to come. These five “past” world kingdoms are Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece. The sixth world kingdom “was” in John’s day as he wrote this book: Rome. The seventh world kingdom will be in the future, and seems to involve a 10-nation alliance (v12). The beast himself is the eighth kingdom and part of one of the seven (v11). I believe that the first half of the tribulation will have the 10-nations in control with the help of the antichrist (seventh world kingdom). However, in the last half of the tribulation, the antichrist will rise to the top and control the world (eighth world kingdom). We see this confirmed in Daniel 2 (the 10 toes which come out of the fourth kingdom of Rome) and Daniel 7 (the little horn which also has 10 horns). Again, these 10 nations give their power to the antichrist (v13). They will fight in the battle of Armageddon against Christ at the end of the tribulation (v14) and lose, just as the stone in Daniel 2:44-45 crushed the world empires on the 10 toes.
